Long Shadows
by The Randomind
Summary: I'm certain about three things, buddy: First, there is always a catch to anything good. To sugest otherwise is suicide. Second, you know a rabbit hole is bad when there is no visible bottom. We can do so much, but all we need is one reason to forgo the "should" aspect. Third, you should have listened to your gut and stayed out of this while you still could have. Sanity is fragile.


**Hey, you. Yeah, you. No, not you, moron,** ** _you._** **There we go. Dan "The Randomind" is looking for beta readers to help out with this thing, and not just grammar proofreading beta readers. He's talking beta readers that help out with the plot and stuff. There's already some, but the more, the merrier. If you think you're up to it, give him a PM.**

 **Now, I bet you're wondering: Why is Dan talking in the third person? Well, he's not. I'm not Dan. I am someone else. Tell you what: let's make a little game. If you decide to leave Dan a review, make a separate line to guess who or what I am. I may occasionally drop a hint or two.**

 **Anyhow, let's get started. I want this thing to get going so we can get to the part where I actually show up.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter One: Something About Today..._**

 _Five Years From Now_

All I could do was lean by back on a tree and look down at the blood-soaked ground. All around me I saw empty shells. Most of these people I never knew. Some of them I hated with all my heart until recently. Others I looked up to as heroes. Some even saw me as their hero. Now they were all dead or dying, and soon I would be next in line. Enemies, comrades, it didn't make a difference. The defense system didn't make a difference. All this fighting didn't make a difference. The evacuations weren't going to make a difference. I could see what was happening from miles away. What was the point of running from it? It wasn't like anyone really stood a chance at surviving the aftermath of the imminent blast.

With one small sigh and a few tears, I began to count down as best as I could.

"Twenty-nine...Twenty-eight...Twenty-seven..."

* * *

 _Lostlorn Forest (The Present)_

I woke up with a light yawn. One would think that sleeping on a bed made of rocks and leaves would be one of the least comfortable beds ever. Apparently, made right, it lets a light sleeper like me black out within seconds and wake up gracefully. There was just a small patch of sun shining down on us, standing out from the rest of the area, which was mostly covered by the shade of the trees. A gentle spring breeze helped me out of my half-asleep state. To my right, my friend was still sleeping, so I quietly left him to sleep for a little while longer. After moving through a few trees, I made it to the pond and started washing my face.

I didn't look much different from any other gardevoir. I'm not sure if I really looked any different at all. It's been years since I saw anyone in the ralts line. I never thought that I would be living nearly on my own, barring my friend Adam, ever since I was six. I always heard of ten-year-olds going on journeys across the entire region, but I thought those people were crazy. Then again, the two of us were twelve and we were living on our own.

After washing my face off, I went back to check on Adam. One look at him wouldn't make anyone think much of him. Brown hair, darker brown eyes, slightly pale, black clothes, he looked just as human as anyone else. Normally he slept like a rock, but recently he had been stirring in his sleep like he was when I came back. I went to a knee and leaned in close to listen to anything he might say in his sleep. After a few seconds he jumped awake, accidentally headbutting me in the process. We both fell to the ground after the impact.

"Ah, my head..." Adam groaned as he sat up. "...You okay, Ruby?" He helped me up. Adam didn't always speak in a monotonous tone, but it was very, _very_ often that he did.

"Yeah. What were you dreaming about?" Of course I couldn't speak any human language, but Adam had lived in the woods with me long enough to understand pokemon speech.

"The same thing as yesterday, and the day before that...and for quite a while."

"You didn't go near any of the rivers recently, did you?"

"No."

"Oh." I looked up at the sun to see how late we had slept in. It was almost noon. "Looks like we slept in a bit."

"Well, we've got plenty of berries stashed nearby." Adam yawned as he turned toward the pile of berries. "Let's get some breakfast ready before...oh..." I turned to look, too. The pile was much smaller than I remembered, and most of the berries that were still there were half-eaten.

"Now I remember why we don't do that. The other pokemon always find it." I sighed. "Okay, I guess we gotta pick some more, huh?"

"Looks like it. I'll look for some near the pond."

"I'll search for anything around the outer ring." We both split up. If it was pretty much anyone else, they would be overwhelmed by the attacking pokemon living here. But six years leaves enough time to earn respect around the forest, so Adam and I weren't bothered by them. On my way to the outside of the forest, I noticed a few people, some of which were around my age, messing around from a distance. Nearby there was a small house that looked no different from most of the other houses in Nimbasa. Small, rectangular, two floors, white paint, it was just the same. From what I could tell, about four or five people lived there. I always found it odd that we never really talked to them. They knew we were here, and we knew they were here. We just really never had a reason to talk. Then again, the same could be said about the zoroark that lives in that trailer and the ghost that lives in the center of the forest.

Yes, a ghost apparently lives in the center of the forest. It's not a ghost pokemon, it's a humanoid ghost that has managed to prevent any sane man thus far from entering the center of the forest and still have almost nobody have any idea why the center is so feared. I personally have never seen the ghost, but Adam told me all about it, and he even let me look through his mind to prove it. Just like our living neighbors, this ghost doesn't really talk with me, but Adam has talked with it, albeit rarely. It knows we're around.

The berries I was finding weren't bad, but could have been better. Hopefully Adam was finding better ones near the pond.

* * *

Now I get why whoever went for our storage of berries didn't just go to the berry trees we didn't go for: Most of the berries were already picked by others. The only ones left were berries like grepas and hondews. Sure, they were probably the sweetest berries around this forest, but everyone knows how unhealthy they are. Too many of those, and it's basically a guaranteed loss if anyone amasses the courage to challenge me to a fight. I would rather eat some of those energy roots from Driftveil. At least those things actually do something _for_ my body.

I wanted to ask the one woman in the trailer for some, but she's been having a rough time. I've never seen her have a good time, but this week has been worse than most others. It's probably because I've been around the area more often than I usually am. It's not that I'm a pain to her. There hasn't been a moment where I wasn't nice to her. The thing is, she had to abandon a child while he was still young. She doesn't even know if the kid is still alive. Ruby says it may be that I remind her of him. Maybe. Considering that she's a zoroark and I'm a hybrid, it would make a little sense.

No, I'm not related to her. Pretty much everyone in the forest who knows me has made that same mistake once. My father was a zoroark, and my mother was human. They both died when I was six. For a while the woman in the trailer took care of us, and we later had to leave because of the reminder of the child thing. Fast forward a few years, and we're picking berries to make up for the raided stockpile.

About the whole half-pokemon half-human thing, it may be a bit confusing, but I'll try to explain it. A long time ago, humans and pokemon were so close that marriage between the two was a regular thing. A slightly more recent time ago, that became less and less common until it's now an extreme rarity. Say what you want about it, but hope that it will never be brought up again. As for the children of these couples, they're often divided into two groups. Statics, like me, are the rarer ones. To anyone else I look completely human, but I have all the offensive powers of a zoroark. This may seem perfect, but there are flaws to it. That comes later. As far as I know, this is the case for all crosses. Some say that few statics, instead of augmented humans, were powerless pokemon. I don't buy it.

The other, and more common, counterpart is the morpher. Morphers have the ability to change between the forms of humans and the respective pokemon. While I can truthfully say that I'm not jealous, I will admit that they have advantages over statics like me. For one thing, they can lock away their powers with a human form and forget them until they need them again. I, on the other hand, have to keep constant watch over my powers. Also, while they have the defenses of their pokemon form, I'm stuck with the weakness of a human. At least I can dodge.

Why is this morpher and static talk relevant? Back at that house inside this forest, there are three morphers. I've seen them fight. They're too strong for the wild pokemon here, and they're getting bored of fighting each other. It'll be only a matter of time before those thrill seekers try to fight Ruby, or me if they've figured me out yet. I was more annoyed by the thought than worried. They fight with the dumb competitive styles that would be seen in those tournaments, complete with lack of dodging. They were no real threat.

"Hey." The oldest human from that house saw me and thought I was in the mood for a conversation. "How've you been?" The 17-year-old was tall, had dark green eyes with very short black hair. He was also wearing gray sneakers, light blue jeans, and a bright red shirt that had white text saying...I don't know what it said. I can't read.

"...Fine." I kept looking for berries. "What brings you here?"

"Just two things. The first one, a few of my friends were interested in finding new people to spar with, and-"

"No." Just because they weren't a threat, that didn't mean I enjoyed fighting. Ruby was just the same.

"...Okay, I can understand that. Not everyone likes battles." The guy looked at a tree and then looked back to me. "The second thing I was going to mention was about a little search the five of us have been doing for some time."

"What makes you think I would want to go on a scavenger hunt with you people? I barely know you."

"Does the name John ring a bell to you?" My face didn't change, but the fact that I stopped looking for berries and remained silent gave him the answer he wanted. "He was looking for the same thing. We were curious if you and your friend wanted to help us out."

I didn't care that he knew my late father's name; lots of people knew about his archaeology. The problem was the fact that he asked me, basically a few greetings short of a complete stranger to him, to go on a search for something very few people knew for a fact existed. Nobody would ask me something like that unless they were an idiot, or they knew who I was. My face remained unchanged, but I was still too silent for comfort.

"So what do you say? Wanna join us?"

"No."

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us." He left. Having nothing picked, I walked back to Ruby empty-handed. On the way I passed through the the center of the forest. Rumor has it that almost nobody goes inside the center and leaves with any memory of it, yet they all fearfully regret going there. Some even vanished entirely. Nobody knows what lurks there except Ruby and me. As I walked through the bushes, a small black sphere began to float over me. It was the ghost that haunts this center.

 _ **"I told you to stop using this place as a shortcut."**_ The ghost spoke with a somewhat deep voice that was heavily distorted. _**"This is the fifth time you have intruded upon my domain unannounced."**_

"Fourth time. I was being chased by Purifier mooks that first time; that doesn't count."

 _ **"That's still four times too many."**_ I began to leave. Clearly he was in a bad mood. _**"If I didn't pity you and your friend, it would be a miracle that you still breathe to this day. Keep this up, and you may change that."**_ I don't know why I didn't really think much of his threat. I knew he easily could make good on it; I've heard of ace trainers with teams of six vanish after stepping into that center. I made a mental note to not go near there for quite some time. _**"Be thankful that I spared you so many times."**_

"I get it, stay off your lawn." Taking the long way gave me time to think about the human's offer. I don't like fighting, but both Ruby and I have fought in these woods for so long that none of the other pokemon even try to fight us. I needed someone to measure up against so I didn't become too rusty. Fighting Ruby legitimately was not an option. She wouldn't try, or if she did she would completely destroy me. Even if the morphers didn't know how to dodge, they could still take more abuse than anyone else nearby.

 _Maybe...no. They'd keep challenging me endlessly if I let them have their way. Ruby can probably help me with target practice and dodginglike normally, and I'll keep testing power on the trees._ With this in mind. I noticed Ruby was walking to me. She had six berries floating above her.

"...Nothing? How could you find nothing?" Ruby wasn't really upset, but she was confused.

"There was nothing but grepas and hondews left." Closer inspection revealed that some of the berries were just that. "You know what those do to us."

"Adam, one berry isn't going to turn you into a weakling. You'll be better off eating this than going out on an empty stomach." She lowered a grepa to me. She did have a point, so I grabbed it and started eating it. "We can sell some of these and then use the money for something better later."

"I guess..."

"Did they ask you about battling them?"

"...I thought you were trying to stop snooping in people's heads."

"Sorry. I just had to know. One of those guys left from where you were picking berries, and I just got so curious.."

"...They did. Did they ask you?"

"No, but I'm sure they will. Do you think we should accept?"

"No. They'd never get sick of fighting us in the long run."

"You can use the practice to make up for the berry."

"Very funny."

"Do you think we should at least talk with them? I know we've been here much longer than they have, but still..."

"...I suppose."

"This afternoon, let's go and talk with them, okay?"

"Okay." Ruby didn't show it much, but I could tell she was eager to legitimately meet them. Oddly, I had no real feeling about it. Neither eager nor hesitant. I don't get it. "I'm going to go fresh up near the pond."

"I'll stick around here. See ya." I left with a few thoughts. Where did those people come from? Why were they looking for what my late father was looking for? How did they know I was still around? I guess I was going to find out soon.

* * *

 **Okay, so we got a ghost, people that apparently go by the name of "Purifiers", and children whose existence defies basic genetics...Seems legit...** **So, yeah, this is gonna be weird. Make sure to leave a review of some sort. Dan needs a head count of how many people are as confused as I am right now. He's also looking for beta readers to help out with storyboarding and stuff.**

 **That guessing game still stands. Try to figure out who I am. Nobody is probably going to get it right for now because there's almost nothing about me on here. But, hey. If you ask some yes or no hint questions, that's fine.**

 **Bye-bye!**


End file.
